The Donmar Warehouse’s all-female Shakespeare Trilogy added to the National Theatre’s On Demand In Schools service

The Donmar Warehouse’s all-female Shakespeare Trilogy has been added to the National Theatre’s On Demand In Schools service.

Directed by Phyllida Lloyd, the ground-breaking trilogy which includes Julius Caeser, Henry IV and The Tempest is now available for secondary schools to watch across the UK via the free national service. With a diverse, all-female cast and set in a women’s prison, the productions asked the question, “Who owns Shakespeare?”. The Trilogy was described by the Observer as ‘One of the most important theatrical events of the last 20 years.’

The Donmar Shakespeare Trilogy began in 2012 with an all-female production of Julius Caesar with Harriet Walter in the title role. Two further productions followed: Henry IV in 2014 and The Tempest in 2016, all featuring a diverse company of women.

The National Theatre’s On Demand In Schools service offers world class curriculum-linked productions – free of charge – to schools across the country. Over 3880 schools are currently signed up to the service, including over 60% of state-funded secondary schools in the country. There are 14 productions available on the service which includes four titles suitable for primary schools.

On Demand In Schools complements trips to see live performances by enabling younger audiences to watch plays in their classroom. The plays are recorded in high definition in front of a live theatre audience. Teachers can show the full production or choose to watch key scenes over a number of lessons.

To accompany the Shakespeare Trilogy recordings, the Donmar Warehouse has created extensive digital learning resources that have been developed in partnership with the Trilogy company, teachers and young people. Designed to support the teaching of Drama, English and PSHE, the accessible resources support in giving further context to the development of the Shakespeare Trilogy, and explorations of its key themes and contemporary relevance to young people.

Alice King-Farlow, Director of Learning at the National Theatre said, “We believe that the drama plays a vital part in the school curriculum and our On Demand In Schools service was developed to enable teachers to stream productions directly into their classrooms for free, alongside specially designed curriculum-linked resources. We’re delighted to have made the Shakespeare Trilogy available to thousands of secondary schools in partnership with the Donmar Warehouse and enable even more young people in schools across the UK to access world-class theatre through this service.”

Josie Rourke, Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse, said “Since 2012, the Donmar’s all-female Shakespeare Trilogy has reached more than 150,000 people in theatres, cinemas and via the BBC. We are delighted to continue to bring these ground-breaking productions to a new, young audience across the UK in partnership with the National Theatre.”

Previous award winning and critically acclaimed National Theatre productions available on On Demand In Schools include: Frankenstein directed by Danny Boyle and starring Olivier award winners Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller sharing the role of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature; Sophocles’ Antigone with Jodie Whittaker and Christopher Eccleston, Othello with Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear and J.M Barrie’s Peter Pan and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet for primary schools. The full catalogue of titles is available on the ODIS website.

National Theatre: On Demand In Schools is supported by Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Sidney E. Frank Foundation, Fondation Hoffmann and Tom & Sara Attwood. Titles and resources for primary schools are supported by The Goldsmiths’ Company Charity. The National Theatre’s Partner for Learning is Bank of America Merrill Lynch.